Having 'publish privately' option updated so anyone with a link can view a StoryMap

[CarmenSmith4]

With StoryMaps.com, it was possible to publish your StoryMap privately, allowing anyone with access to the link to view it. It was incredibly helpful for editing and finalizing StoryMaps before publishing so that 'Everyone' could view it, as it allowed you to share the StoryMap with others who do not use/need to use ArcGIS Online. Having the ability to share with users within your Organization assumes that we only work on StoryMaps with individuals or institutions that have (or are within the same) organization. I know there are ways to create Collaborations between Organizations, but this option is significantly more cumbersome and costly than sharing a private viewing link to review a StoryMap. 

For users who switched to the Creator profile license with ArcGIS StoryMaps when Storymaps.com was shut down, it would be great to have this publishing option again. So many people and organizations cannot afford to purchase additional add-ons or licenses simply to have people be able to review and approve content before it goes 'live'. 

[OwenGeo]

A very similar "private link" option is already available in ArcGIS StoryMaps.

When publishing, share with Everyone but uncheck "Show in web search results." This ensures your StoryMap will not be crawled/indexed by web search engines, so it will be available without a login to those you share the link with, but it will not be discoverable in web search results. When you are ready for the item to be widely shared, republish and re-check this box so the item will be marked for search indexing.

The only difference is an item hidden from web searches may appear in ArcGIS Online searches, which are much less common than web searches. Otherwise the behavior of this option is exactly the same as the previous StoryMaps.com "Anyone with link" option.

[MichaelFearer1]

I can't use StoryMaps without this feature. My Story Maps would include a lot of content that cannot be shared publicly. I can't have the offchance that someone find it on ArcGIS Online searches. If you could allow for a link that only works for those who have the link, or better yet, enable a password to access it, that would be ideal.

For now, I can't use StoryMaps which is very unfortunate because we would love to use it!